InteRES Airline Retail Engine opens up NDC to Amazon Alexa

SunExpress is the first airline worldwide to take voice bookings

Darmstadt, 2018/12/12

Amazon Alexa can now speak directly with the NDC world. This newly-created skill will be an integral part of the InteRES Airline Retail Engine from now on, paving the way for SunExpress to be the world’s very first airline to take voice-activated bookings via Alexa.

Truly native to NDC and ONE Order, the Airline Retail Engine is an integrated offer and order management system with its very own NDC API that enables airlines to take control of their own digital marketing. Easily adding new channels – ones like the Alexa skill – is a major advantage of this retail tool. With the Airline Retail Engine, airlines fully own and access their customer search data, offers and bookings. They can also tailor content to a specific distribution channel.

Thanks to the Airline Retail Engine, SunExpress customers in Germany can now use Alexa to search for and book flights by voice – and they can even pay for them using Amazon Pay. At launch, the Alexa integration is supported in German, with English to follow. In future, customers will also be able to book ancillaries via Alexa. The Airline Retail Engine can be fully integrated with any airline host (PSS).

“The new Alexa skill is the latest example of how our Airline Retail Engine opens up totally new horizons for airlines. Airlines can dip their toes into digital marketing in real-time, without taking a lot of risk,” notes Alexander von Bernstorff, Director Airline Solutions at InteRES. “You can pilot the Airline Retail Engine in parallel to any existing distribution system. Yet it was built from scratch to take full advantage of NDC and ONE Order.”

“We’re proud that SunExpress is the first airline worldwide to offer a voice-driven booking option. We’re actively taking a pioneer role in driving the travel sector’s digital transformation,” says Peter Glade, Commercial Director of SunExpress.